Her Flat
by wally4ever
Summary: AU Tonks has moved out from her parents, and is welcomed into the world of hosting her birthday bashes, adopting old cats, fighting with the neighbors, eating dinner alone, cleaning absolutely everything, and sleepovers....with boys. RLNT


**This story will skew some facts from the book, since it is an Alternative Universe piece. Biggest one I think needs to be brought up is that Tonks's age will be out of whack. If you don't mind the slip up, I present to you Her Flat.**

**Disclaimer: Everything Potter, is owned by JK Rowling. I can only dream.**

* * *

The first day of Tonks's adult life was starting with telling her parents what she really wanted, but what she really wanted now was somewhere to hide. Hiding was good when you had an overbearing mother such as Tonks's, and where else could Tonks hide but her very own flat! She can charm the doors to open to spells only she would know, keeping Death Eaters and Mum as far away as possible. Tonks would make a set of rules for her flat, and the number one rule would be: no Andromedas allowed. It was a good rule. Dad could come, though. He's the sane parent, of course. 

"Nymphadora," Mum said, setting her tea down, "don't create faces when you're thinking. It isn't ladylike."

"Yes, mum," Tonks murmured into her tea cup.

"Don't talk into your tea."

Tonks set her cup down, mirroring how Mum had done it. "Yes, mum."

"Don't slouch."

Tonks sat up straight. "Yes, mum."

Dad looked back and forth between them, seeming to be intrigued, while Tonks tapped her fingers on her knees and Mum sipped her tea. Tonks lifted a hand, and nibbled on the skin around her nail.

"No biting your nails, Nymphadora," Mum said. "I don't want to take you to get a manicure again this week because your nails look like a caveman cut them."

"I'm _not_ biting my nails," Tonks retorted. "I'm chewing on the skin."

"Do you think that's a better thing to do?" Mum replied. "You see, this is why Jimmy McConnell didn't want to date you. Your habits are disgusting."

"Jimmy McConnell didn't want to date me because he thought I was an anarchist."

"You dress like one."

"I don't act like one."

Mum snorted.

"I don't!"

Mum looked over Tonks's clothes which were predominately black today, and her combats boots were dusty. It was laundry day, though. If Tonks lived on her own, then she wouldn't have to mope around the house muttering how long it was until laundry day because Mum didn't trust her to do the laundry herself. She could do it on her own….or pay someone to do it for her just in case.

"Anarchists don't like authority," Tonks said, regretting she even spoke it after she flashbacked on her days in Hogwarts, getting caught by Professor Sprout for doing things a loyal Hufflepuff would knows was against school policies.

Mum raised her eyebrows and sighed. "Maybe it was your anarchist-like habits that made him not want to date you?"

Tonks crooked her jaw and gulped down her tea, trying to ignore how Mum just restated everything. "Maybe."

"Nymphadora, that is not ladylike!" Mum cried, and Tonks crashed her tea cup onto the table, missing the plate made for the cup.

"Mum," Tonks said, standing up, "dad." She regarded them both equally, but she failed to share the friendly smile she used on Dad to Mum. "I want to share with you something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I know you both won't like it very much."

Let's just hope they'll excuse the fact that I haven't exactly found a place yet, Tonks thought.

"What is it, pumpkin?" Dad asked. Mum was looking very incredulous and stern.

"I want to…." She couldn't say it. Sure, she really wanted to live on her own and create rules to not let her mum in, she wanted to throw a party for all of her wild and crazy friends to come, and she wanted to belch out Weird Sister songs whenever she wanted to without the fear of being heard, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. "I want to…."

"Well," Mum said, impatient, "get on with it. It's not ladylike to stall and keep people waiting."

"I…." Tonks shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

There was a tap at the kitchen window that cut Tonks off and captured Dad's attention. "Sorry, pumpkin," he said. "I should get this."

Tonks nodded at him and smiled, though she didn't mean it, and he left the living room.

That was a good save, she had to admit. She might need to get out and have some fresh air to cool her senses about her moving out speech. If she was just able to say the first three words of her moving out speech, what would happen if she finished the sentence? Mum would probably go ballistic and Dad would be very shocked at first and may not speak to her for the rest of the day without flooding her with questions revolving around if it was something they had done. How could she explain to them it was because she had a job as an Auror that she felt she needed to complete her independence and move out? Maybe she needed the rest of the day to just prepare, practice in front of dummy models of her parents.

Tonks gazed over at Mum and almost yelped when she saw Mum was giving her the quizzing eye. Tonks looked at her tea cup on the table, glancing up occasionally.

"Stand up straight, Nymphadora," Mum said, reaching for her tea, "and sit down. It's not ladylike to stand up when no one else is."

Tonks mumbled in a squeaky voice all of what her mother said under her breath and grabbed a biscuit.

"Don't think I'm not hearing that," Mum said before taking a sip from her tea. Tonks glared up at her. "Don't think I didn't see that, either."

Tonks placed her thumbs on her forehead and wiggled her fingers while she stuck out her tongue.

"Saw that."

"Good!"

"Nymphadora, that wasn't–"

"Ladylike?"

"Neither–"

"Was that?"

Mum looked over her tea cup at Tonks. She set her cup down, her lips tight. "Jimmy McConnell definitely didn't like your habits."

"One day, I'll meet a man that loves me and my habits," Tonks said exasperated. "He'll love me and I'll love him."

"I'd love to see it. You'll marry him, I expect?" Mum replied.

"Of course," Tonks commented, sipping her tea. She sighed as the tea warmed her stomach. "We'll have children too. They'll have normal names like John and Jane."

"A J theme, I see."

"Anarchistic me speaking out," Tonks said informatively. "The Js stand for jack the system." She set her tea cup down elegantly on her plate. "You know, down with the ultimate authority, the law and judicial system."

"I see," Mum said quietly.

"Yes."

They were sunken into silence and the only words they spoke afterwards were to pass biscuits or to fill one another's cups. This was another reason why Tonks wanted to move out. Mum always had to point out every one of her flaws, dub them unladylike, and speak like she was the failure of the Tonks family. She probably was, but Mum didn't need to go pointing it out all the time. Tonks wasn't an idiot. She knew she wasn't the most common person that people chose to be proud of.

Dad came in looking grieve and holding a newspaper. Tonks tried to steal a peak at the headline, but Mum gave her a look, and she sat back down. Dad took a seat far away from both of them and stuffed his face into his hands, letting the newspaper fall to his lamp. Tonks and Mum shared a worried glance, and then looked at Dad.

"Ted, dear," Mum said. "Ted, what's the matter?"

Dad didn't say anything, and Tonks and Mum shared an awkward glance again.

"Would you like some tea to calm your nerves, dad?" Tonks asked.

Dad lowered his hand slowly, and looked at the newspaper headline. Tonks craned her neck around to see what it said. She glanced back at Mum, wondering if she'll be scowled at again, but was surprised to see Mum doing the same exact thing.

"It's _The__Word_," he said. _The Word_ was one of the more popular local newspapers where they lived. It was usually the first newspaper they received in the mornings, always followed by _The Daily Prophet_. It was midday, though. This was an odd time to be getting _The Word_.

Tonks and Mum watched him for a while. A minute passed and he still hadn't said anything. Just when Mum was about to encourage him again, he talked.

"He escaped."

Tonks blinked. "Who, dad?"

"Sirius Black," Dad whispered. "Hogwarts had him, but he escaped."

"What?" Mum gasped. "That's horrible. When did this happen?"

"Last night," Dad said. His voice was quiet, but full of feeling. "Hogwarts didn't find out until this morning, and news didn't get out until just now."

"How did this happen?" Tonks whispered.

Dad rubbed his temples. "I'm not sure."

"Ted, what does this mean?" Mum questioned, frightened. "Could he still be…?" She couldn't bring herself to ask, but they all were wondering the same question. Could he still be a threat?

"Mum," Tonks said, trying to sound brave and sincere, "he was after Harry Potter; he might have been close to getting him at Hogwarts, but was captured. He'll most likely be quiet for now."

Mum nodded, but her eyes looked as fearful as a scared rabbit. "Ted, I'm scared." She got up and walked over to him. She fell into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm scared."

Tonks looked at her mum being cradled by her father mournfully. She could use that walk more now.

She got up and walked towards the coat rack.

"Where are you going?" Dad asked.

Tonks pushed her arms through the sleeves of her thin, completely fashion purposed cloak and gazed out the window dazed. "I'm going to take a walk."

* * *

Tonks apparated to Hogsmeade. It was a place that always seemed to cheer her up when she needed it. When she was in her third year, a group of boys had made fun of her since she was a metamorphous, and demanded that she changed into this one Pro Quiddich player. It was a Hogsmeade day, and Tonks had been good for so long, Snape permitted her to go. She was so entranced by all the shops, she felt happier inside. Not so much that she completely forgot about all the mean things the boys had said, but she felt better. She felt happier. Hogsmeade just seemed to have a winter wonderland affect on Tonks. 

She walked into The Three Broomsticks and looked around. The place was pretty empty. People have probably heard of Sirius Black escaping and figured the best place to be now was home since even Hogwarts couldn't hold Sirius Black. Tonks slumped into a booth and peeked out the window.

Hogsmeade looked like a ghost town almost. There were some people walking around, but they lived close by or needed to get some things native to the village. Tonks felt something fall down her shoulders, and peered down at a mess of mousy brown hair. She raised her eyebrow and conjured up a band to fix her hair into a ponytail.

"Hello, there!"

Tonks looked up as she finished her ponytail and saw Madam Rosemerta smiling down at her. "Oh, wotcher."

"Now what would you like?" she asked.

Tonks looked over Rosemerta's clothes and felt her heart tug. Was she going to lose service over Sirius escaping again? Tonks looked around the pub. Not counting herself and Rosemerta, there were only five other people inside. However, two were practically attached to the mouth, so they could count as one person.

"Hello?" A hand was waving in front of Tonks's face.

"Oh, sorry," Tonks said. "A butterbeer, please."

Rosemerta smiled. "Coming right up, dear."

Tonks felt a tug at her lips and looked out the window. She was probably going to have a lot of work now at the Ministry since Sirius Black escaped. People might question her like the first time he escaped since she was his cousin. Last time she over used her "no comment" privileges, and had to make up wild stories about how Sirius Black always had a thing for monkeys eating cheese.

How was she going to move now? Her mother would have her head if she did. Tonks would have to bring something from work over to prove her job as an Auror was real, even though Mum was the one who planned it with the DMB club. The DMB club was the Daughters of Muggleborns club. There was a meeting every two weeks on Mondays. Tonks usually made up excuses so she wouldn't have to attend, but Mum said that one of these days Tonks was going to have to host one of the meetings, and then would have no excuse to not come. She had only threatened about that, though.

"Your butterbeer," Rosemerta said, placing a mug full of a caramel colored drink in front of Tonks.

"Thank you," her whispered as Rosemerta walked away.

Tonks took a drink from her butterbeer, and the familiar feeling from before of her stomach warming up made Tonks close her eyes and forget about the new gossip on Sirius Black. She was beginning to feel at peace. Hogsmeade was starting to cool her off like it usually did. Tonks smiled, and sipped her drink.

Mum and Dad would most likely disapprove of the moving. The timing was indeed off, and they probably thought she was too young, but they always thought that. When Tonks was four, they treated her every step like it was her first. It was annoying when she'd run to them at the park and Mum would say, "Congratulations Nymphadora!" When Tonks went off to Hogwarts, they wanted to her to owl them when she arrived, before she fell asleep the first week, when she was about to go to classes for the first time, and in any other embarrassing moment.

Outside her window, a balding man and a short, stubby man began to argue. The balding man seemed to have made some remark the short man didn't agree with. The short man reminded Tonks of an angry Chihuahua. She gulped down the rest of her butterbeer and rushed outside where a crowd was beginning to grow around the two men.

"How dare you pass off such a thing," said the short man. "Sirius Black could be after _any_ of us."

"I disagree," countered the balding man. "I don't think he's after common people like us, but bigger people like Harry Potter or Dumbledore."

"What makes you think that?" the short man challenged. "Sirius Black worked for You-Know-Who. He's a _maniac_!"

The crowd roared with opinions and chatter. Tonks looked behind her and was startled to see a mother and her young son standing near. She turned back and saw in front of her was and a tall, burly man. She stood on her toes, not quite feeling like making herself taller yet.

"Sirius Black would only go after civilians to make a scene," said the balding man. "He doesn't need to though."

"And why not?"

"Are you not listening to what we're saying?" he replied. "He's making us fight in the streets!"

"This isn't a fight," said the short man angrily. "If you want a fight, I'll be glad to give it to you." He threw off his coat and it went flying into the sidelines and into someone's face. The short man decided to abandon his wand and swung his fists around at the balding man.

Tonks frowned. She should stop this. She was an Auror, and if anyone wanted a say, she could just tell them that. "Excuse me," she said, tapping the tall man's shoulder in front of her. He stepped aside and nodded to her, looking skeptic. Tonks walked to the short man, nearly getting hit in her face.

"You want a fight!" the short man said to the balding man. "I'll give you a fight."

Tonks tapped his shoulder. "Sir."

He grumbled. "Not now missy, you don't want to get hurt."

"Sir, please, if you would just stop," Tonks said ignoring him, but he chose to ignore her as well. Tonks sighed. "Please, sir. Stop."

Out of nowhere, one of the man's fists came howling towards Tonks's face. Tonks stepped back and grasped his hand. "Sir," she said firmly, grabbing his attention. "_Stop_."

"Uh…." He looked around the side lines and at the audience. Tonks looked down at him sternly, how a serious Auror would look. He backed away from Tonks, and ran off.

Tonks raised her eyebrows as she watched him pass, and then directed her attention to the crowd. "Everyone," she said, "what you saw just now was two men talking about a pressing incident, but it turned violent." She was overjoyed by how professional and grownup she sounded. "Although it is nice to discuss events among you, turning the discussion into a fight is not responsible, and will not be appreciated. Thank you." Tonks nodded to them, and walked away.

The crowd was silent at first, and then started shouting and following her, asking all the same questions and getting all the same answers.

* * *

After her trip to Hogsmeade, Tonks went straight home. Mum and Dad were feeling better since she had left, and she found them still lounging in the living room, quietly sipping tea. 

Mum looked up when Tonks hung her cloak on the coat rack, but some of the coats fell down, making Tonks stay there a bit longer. Tonks turned around and saw both Mum and Dad looking at her, and she smiled, moving as gracefully as she could towards a chair, but banged her toe against a leg anyway.

"Hello, mum," she said. "Hello, dad."

"Where'd you take your walk?" Dad asked.

"Hogsmeade."

Mum offered Tonks some tea, and Tonks accepted instantly.

Tonks watched as Mum dropped some sugar in her tea, and looked down at her boots. She felt like she needed to tell them about moving out, but she was afraid of what they'd say. Would they not let her move because of Sirius Black? Dad would ask if she had a place in mind or not. Mum would most likely scream or faint. Tonks didn't care anymore if the timing was off because Sirius Black had escaped. She wanted this. She needed this. Moving out was her ticket to adulthood. Moving out was what she needed to be independent.

Tonks paused. Jimmy McConnell really must not have wanted to date her because of her anarchistic habits. She wasn't an anarchist though. She was non-stereotyped.

"Mum," Tonks said, taking a sip from her tea, "dad, I want to tell you something."

"What is it, pumpkin?" Dad asked.

"Well, as you know, before the owl came with _The Word_, I was going to tell you something," Tonks informed. "This is what I was going to say."

"Yes, Nymphadora," Mum said, "but what is it?"

Tonks sighed. Now or never, she thought. "I'm moving out."

She heard Dad take a sharp breath through his teeth. "_What_?"

Tonks drank from her tea to buy some time. She needed to stall. Run away, but she wanted to run away home…. She was home…. She needed that flat.

"I know the timing is a little off, but–"

"A little off? A _little_?" Dad roared. "Sirius Black is on the loose, and you want to _move out_? Are you _insane_?"

"I've been thinking about this a lot, dad," Tonks pleaded. "Long before Sirius Black had escaped. A long time, dad."

"Ted," Mum said, calmly. "Sit down. If we're going to talk about this, let's do it rationally and hear what she has to say, and _then _you can act like an angry giant."

"Oh, fine," Dad said grudgingly. "I can't help it if I'm _concerned_ though, Andromeda."

"Yes, well, you had a wonderful way of making her feel concerned about," Mum replied coolly. She watched Dad sit back down next to her and turned to Tonks, who went back to drinking her tea in hopes stalling. "Nymphadora, tell us what you have to say."

"Mmm!" Tonks mumbled. She chugged the last of her tea, finishing with a rather unladylike slurp. "Oh," she laughed, "sorry."

Mum seemed to be trying not to tell her off about manors for the sake of staying on topic.

"Well, it's just; now that I have a job – a _good_, well paid job as an Auror – I feel that I'm an adult. I _am_ an adult," Tonks added. "So, I believe that a flat my adultliness."

"Is adultliness a word?" Dad asked with a snort.

"Ted, please," Mum snapped, "control yourself." She turned to Tonks. "Do you really feel this way?"

Tonks blinked. Her parents sort of switched their roles on her now. Usually Mum was the one that needed to be lectured by Dad to keep quiet. "Um, yes."

"You know this isn't the most sensible thing to do since Sirius is on the loose," Mum said.

"Sirius _Black_," Dad corrected. "I know he's family and your favorite cousin, but I shall not allow you to call a murderer by his first name in this household."

Mum sighed. "Fair enough, I suppose."

"Mum, dad," Tonks said, licking her lips. "I know it's dangerous, but you need to know that I'm a certified _Auror_ working at the _Ministry_. If I can't defend myself, well…."

"That's not the point," Dad interjected. "We know you're an Auror, and you've always been able to defend yourself very well. Very well," he stressed, "but, you're still our baby girl."

Tonks sighed. "I know I am," she said giving them each loving, sincere glances, "but you need to let me venture out on my own. Let me out of the nest."

"Nymphadora," Mum said. "We want you to be happy, but this is hard for us."

"But _this_ is hard for me, mum," Tonks replied. "I need to spread my wings and fly. I…. I need to get my own taste of independence. I want to experience everything on my own." She paused. What she wanted to say next she figured was every parent's worst fear, but she had to say it. "I don't need you two so close to me anymore."

Mum and Dad looked at each other. Tonks held her breath as she watched them share a silent conversation only they knew how to do. Every second Tonks felt closer and closer to what she wanted, and yet farther and farther as well. Dad mouthed something, and Mum nodded, tearfully looking over at Tonks.

Mum nodded to her.

That was all she did and Tonks leapt to her feet and ran over to them, giving them large bear hugs. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" she cried. "You won't regret this."

"We hope not," Dad said, amused. "And just remember don't keep boys–"

"Cooped up _all_ the time," Mum said with an odd twinkle in her eye. "They like fresh air."

"And no parties–"

"Twenty-four/seven."

"Don't open the door–"

"To enemy soilders."

Dad groaned. "Are you going to continue to do that?"

Mum smiled and kissed his cheek. "Nymphadora," she said.

"What, mum?"

"We want to see the flat you want before you sign anything," Mum said. "To make see if you missed anything about the neighborhood, or such."

"OK." Tonks smiled at them and walked towards the stairs.

"And Nymphadora?"

"What, mum?"

"Don't say 'what,' dear," she replied, "say, 'pardon.'"

* * *

**The last line, if anyone caught, was snagged from Bridget Jones's Diary. I thought it would be nice since Mum was correcting Tonks's behavior a lot.**

**I love reviews!**

**TBC...**


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